Poppa WahooSeason Calendar
What's biting in Islamorada, month by month.
There is no bad month to fish Islamorada; there are only different hunts. This is the calendar the fleet actually plans around.
The fishing year, season by season
What the captains plan each month around, plus what the ocean and the docks are like. Tap a month for the full rundown.
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Biting every month: blackfin tuna on the humps, yellowtail on the reef, amberjack on the wrecks, and swordfish whenever the weather opens a window.
Winter (roughly December through April) belongs to the edge: sailfish tailing down the reef after cold fronts, smoker kingfish crashing live baits, and comfortable, cool days offshore. This is the classic Islamorada season that fills the docks.
Spring into summer is the color run. Mahi pour through on the weed lines from late spring, wahoo peak around the cooler-month moons on either side of it, and the spring spawn brings the famous mutton snapper bite. Flat summer mornings are also prime for running far and comfortable.
Year-round, no asterisks: blackfin tuna on the humps and swordfish in the deep. The humps stack tuna every month of the calendar, and the overnight swordfish program runs whenever the weather window opens. Yellowtail snapper hold on the reef in every season.
Summer nights bring the big animals out: bull sharks at their heaviest May through October, lemons in the warm months, and hammerheads in the spring and fall shoulder windows on the evening shark trips.
The honest answer to 'when should we come?'
Come when you can. Tell the captain the month and he will tell you the hunt. That is how a fleet with four boats and a year-round calendar actually works.
Season questions
What is the best month to fish Islamorada?
For sailfish, winter. For mahi, early summer. For the most reliable bent rod, any month: the humps hold blackfin tuna year-round.
Is summer too hot to fish?
Mornings and evenings are the play: 7 am departures beat the heat, and the 5 pm shark trip turns the hottest part of the day into pool time.
What about hurricane season?
The fleet fishes it like locals always have: watch the forecast, take the good windows. Weather cancellations by the captain are refunded in full.
The calendar, in fish
Every one of these came off our decks. Whatever month you land on, something on this wall is biting.
